Texas A&M takes part in #3DAY to raise mental health awareness
The Eagle
Kyle Field stood silent as the third quarter began Saturday.
Many rambunctious fans refrained from yelling and instead held up three fingers as Kellen Mond hit Isaiah Spiller for an 18-yard pass.
The moment was held in honor of Tyler Hilinski, a former Washington State quarterback who died by suicide in January 2018.
Texas A&M was one of 16 schools, including nine from the SEC, to take part in the inaugural #3DAY on Oct. 3, focused on raising mental health awareness. The #3DAY initiative was formed by the Hilinski’s Hope Foundation, which aims to promote mental health in college athletes in honor of Tyler and others lost, and culminated with World Mental Health Day on Saturday.
A&M players wore a lime green ribbon on their helmets with a “3” in the middle in the game against Florida.
“The cause is completely organic, and it’s as genuine as you can get from the Hilinski family,” said Ryan Pittsinger, A&M’s director of counseling and sport psychology. “There’s a number of us within the SEC that are doing a lot to help generate awareness for that, but also generate awareness of mental health.”
Back in the spring, the Hilinskis wrote letters to all 14 SEC athletic directors asking them to participate in the initiative and aimed to make the event easy for schools to take part in.
“It’s not ambitious, but it’s sort of a big ask for a lot of people to participate,” said Mark Hilinski, Tyler’s father. “We’re just super grateful for the SEC schools and the universities, the head coaches, and of course the athletic directors, who ultimately participated. It’s very touching. I think Tyler would be proud.”
